PRESS RELEASE - British Big Cats



PRESS RELEASE

(Embargoed until Thursday 7th October 2004)

‘LIVE’ WEB CAMERAS MAY FINALLY PROVE

THAT BIG CATS EXIST IN BRITAIN

Today the British Big Cats Society has launched a new website which may help prove the existence of Big Cats in Britain – will work alongside the existing website – – which has now had over 100,000 hits in just 3 years.

The aim of the NEW big cat website is to link up to some brand new digital ‘Trigger’ Video cameras out in the wild – so that web surfers can see instantly see some of the latest pictures taken from remote places. Already the BBCS has several ‘normal’ trigger still cameras; however these are only activated when something moves past them and breaks an infra red beam. The new camera systems will be able to take digital images and within a few seconds be able to upload them to the website – . The BBCS is planning to start the new project in the New Year and will spend the next 3 months researching into the best places to put them.

Danny Bamping founder of the society & its Media spokesman stated:

“We have been developing an upgrade to the several camera traps that we currently have deployed; the new cameras will allow us to monitor the photographs captured in ‘almost’ real time via the Internet. These camera traps are positioned according to the data gathered by the British Big Cats Society over the last few years. The new website is a massive step forward and it’s great to launch it just after our home website has recently achieved the high milestone of over 100,000 hits.”

This summer the BBCS has been overwhelmed with sightings from across the country – several incidents including a very recent sighting of a PUMA by 2 RAF Corporals near an Airbase in the Southwest. Other incidents include a dog going missing in Somerset from an area were sightings of big cats are now ‘common’ and also a digital photograph of a Puma in Surrey up a tree!

Danny Bamping added:

“The big cat activity recently has been very encouraging and with the winter period coming up, likely to get very busy! The photo from Surrey is interesting as it’s the first ‘DIGITAL’ still photo we have had – but unfortunately its not conclusive in anyway – there are sightings of Puma type animal in the area – which does help its cause; but as evidence the image is still too poor to say either way.”

Further information on The British Big Cats Society:

Earlier this year the British Big Cats Society released data from its 15 month survey, which lasted from January 03 till March 04. The results published on its website indicate that there is little doubt that big cats are roaming Britain. The BBCS are now calling on the DEFRA & the HOME OFFICE to work towards undertaking a long term and UK wide properly funded scientific study.

Overall there were 2052 sightings reported to the BBCS throughout Britain (that’s over 4 per day!) – The top 10 in the ‘league table of big cat sightings’ are; Scotland (231) Kent (141) Yorkshire (127) Wales (102) Devon (100) Cornwall (96) Lancashire (86) Ireland (82) Lincolnshire (80) Somerset (69). This year the BBCS was able to break down the data in several areas – and this produced some interesting facts and figures. For instance, regionally the percentages of sightings were as follows; South West 21%, South East 16%, East Anglia 12%, Scotland 11%, and West Midlands 9%.

The BBCS, which was formed nearly 4 years ago, has now grown and has members located all around the British Isles. This ‘unified voice’ approach to research and reporting has already dramatically increased the understanding of exotic felines in Britain. It has allowed the public to come forward with their sightings or encounters, knowing that they will be taken seriously and that a UK wide network of people is at the ready to follow them up. The BBCS is aiming to become a registered charity early next year.

• Notes for editors

Exclusive Images available from the BBCS on request

• Contact details

The British Big Cats Society

Tel 01752 664544 bbcs@

Danny Bamping – 07831 658492

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